Does anyone's child take Osmolax?

Thanks heaps for your reply. Wow 8 sachets sounds like a lot, what kind of results does that give her?

So basically I'm... confused... as to my DD's treatment.
She is 9yo. For the past year or so she has been feeling nauseated on and off, but it got to the point of her feeling nauseated every day, and starting to have days off school. The nausea comes and goes, for about an hour or so at a time. She occasionally gets tummy pain, and occasionally gets reflux.
So about 8 weeks ago we went to the paed (we've never seen one before). He tells me he thinks she is constipated. I told him I'm not sure that that would be the case, as she opens her bowels, not exactly regularly, but every couple of days or so, opens them a 'normal' amount when she does, and it varies from (I hope your familiar with the Bristol Stool Chart?) a 2 to a 5. So he sent us next door for an xray, and sure enough she had a fair amount backed up in there. I was very shocked!

Sooo... she was told to take Osmolax. She started off taking a big scoop (so 17g I think, vs a sachet of Movicol which google tells me is 13g?) every night. After a few days it kicked in. During the 6 weeks between the next check up she is having multiple motions a day (rarely she would have none in a day), and they are mostly type 7, totally watery, and large amounts. Every so often she would have a small type 3. I tapered the Osmolax down to 1.5 scoops. Nausea still continues, as does reflux (oh he also put her on omeprazole for her reflux, which did nothing). So when we went back a few weeks ago, he tells me that due to the occasional firmer stool, he doesn't believe she is taking enough Osmolax. He believes that the watery stuff is just overflow. But can that really be when there is so much of it??
I ask him when do I know when to taper down the Osmolax, and he tells me that if she isn't making it to the toilet in time, then that would be too much. But for goodness sake, she is a 9yo girl, why would I willingly make her soil herself with diarrhea? What if she's at school?
He didn't do a repeat xray, but just felt around her tummy and came to the conclusion that she's still blocked up a bit. It's not that I don't believe him, but I just... am not sure... about giving her more Osmolax, seeing as she's having such watery poos already. His goal for her is to have 2-3 soft bowel motions every day. But she's getting diarrhea most of the time.

We're due to go back at the end of this month. I know he won't be impressed if I haven't given her more Osmolax.

Sorry I know that was an essay. I don't expect anyone on here to give me any answers, I guess I just want to hear some personal experiences and also just to vent! I just want my little girl to not feel sick every day is all!

My experience with osmolax is really limited since my dd is only 2. She takes it every day though.
It's a great way to get things moving but I've been told by several of my daughter's Dr's that it can be hard to work out the right dose. As in getting it right.
Has it helped with the nausea or she is getting tummy cramps still?
It must be very hard. I have many friends who give their older children osmolax regularly due to the low motility in the bowel.
Did the Dr suggest the long term goal? Is it just to get things moving and cleansed out and then look at diet and how to help her? Could you ask for a stool test etc ? To check for bacteria in the gut causing this symptoms? Did he investigate the cause? Could you keep a food diary etc to see if it relates to anything she's having?

My experience with osmolax is really limited since my dd is only 2. She takes it every day though.
It's a great way to get things moving but I've been told by several of my daughter's Dr's that it can be hard to work out the right dose. As in getting it right.
Has it helped with the nausea or she is getting tummy cramps still?
It must be very hard. I have many friends who give their older children osmolax regularly due to the low motility in the bowel.
Did the Dr suggest the long term goal? Is it just to get things moving and cleansed out and then look at diet and how to help her? Could you ask for a stool test etc ? To check for bacteria in the gut causing this symptoms? Did he investigate the cause? Could you keep a food diary etc to see if it relates to anything she's having?

Still getting nausea. Still sometimes getting tummy pains.
He hasn't really talked about a long term goal. As far as I know it's just to clear her out, to see if that stops the nausea. She has had a stool test at the GP, and also the breath test for H.pylori which all came back clear. I haven't kept a food diary as such, but I have taken notice of when exactly she gets the nausea, but there is no pattern whatsoever that I can see. She eats fairly well. She claims she's allergic to dairy lol, I think perhaps there is an intolerance there though. But then she avoids dairy pretty much all the time, so....? She doesn't really eat many oily/fatty foods, she says they make her feel sick. She eats a good amount of fruit and vegies.

Originally Posted by BubblesK

Maybe a second opinion? From a different GP?

I've seen a couple of GP's. They're all stumped, as her symptoms are so vague. This dr we are seeing is a paed. I have thought about getting a second opinion from another paed though. They're just so darned expensive. I don't really fancy paying another $400 anytime soon. But I may have to.

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I would ask for extra tests in addition to the help in treating the symptom. Eg. .. stool tests for giardia. .. calprotectin levels (detects inflammation in the bowel)....plus maybe coeliac etc. Just to rule them out. As you don't want to spend a fortune at the paed and not get answers. I would keep a diary.. food. ..liquids and bowel movements. .. The paed can help you by looking through the diary for anything that may cause it.
Must be so hard to figure out what is causing her tummy upset. Could she be anxious about things too? Just throwing some ideas or there.

I would ask for extra tests in addition to the help in treating the symptom. Eg. .. stool tests for giardia. .. calprotectin levels (detects inflammation in the bowel)....plus maybe coeliac etc. Just to rule them out. As you don't want to spend a fortune at the paed and not get answers. I would keep a diary.. food. ..liquids and bowel movements. .. The paed can help you by looking through the diary for anything that may cause it.
Must be so hard to figure out what is causing her tummy upset. Could she be anxious about things too? Just throwing some ideas or there.

She's been tested for coeliacs, it was negative. The stool test looked for any bacteria which could have been causing her nausea but there was nothing suspicious. Not sure about calprotectin, I'll try and find her results and see if it's on there.
I've thought about anxiety too, as did the paed. There are constant issues in her friendship group at school, with her being the mediator who tries to help everyone get along. So there are reasons to be nervous. I've spoken to her about it, and she says that yes some days she is nervous, but that if she gets tummy pain from it it's a different type of pain than her 'normal' pain/nausea. She seems certain that there is a difference, and I do believe her.

Thanks Cranky for sharing, it is very helpful.
Interesting that the GP says it takes so long to clear out, I was never really given a time frame.
DD has said she felt sick a couple of times after her Osmolax, but I think that's just because she's so tiny and drinking a whole glass of drink in a few minutes is too much for her. So now she'll make her drink after dinner, and sip on it while she's getting ready for bed until it's finished. I don't have any issues getting her to drink it thank goodness, she makes it with a squeeze of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of sugar and she thinks it's awesome lol.
Edit- question... do your DD's toilet-sit at a certain time each day? The paed said he wants her to sit on the toilet for 15 minutes after breakfast each day, to try and get some regular timing happening. But she doesn't ever do it. I wonder if it's necessary?

Gosh is a hard one for you. It's good that the other tests have been run so you can cancel out those causes.
Can you get back to Dr earlier? Probably not in guessing! ! Wait lists to see Dr's are huge. :/

No I haven't forced the issue yet. However everything I have read online regarding encopresis suggests sitting on the toilet 15 minutes after every meal as part of the recovery. Something about establishing regular bowel habits and it being easier to poo after eating.

Hmmm ok, maybe I should get her to give it a go. School holidays might be a good time to try seeing as we're not as rushed.

Still the same. :/
Although we've just been camping for 4 days, and she forgot to have her Osmolax (I wanted her to just have a half dose while we were away), so she's only been to the toilet twice in those 4 days.
I tried to encourage her to toilet-sit before we went away, which she did with a LOT of encouragement, and even then after a couple of minutes she would yell out "has it been 15 minutes yet?" lol, so I'd really only manage to get her to sit for 5-10 minutes. So that hasn't particularly been helpful yet. I'll try again with it though.
Nausea and reflux is still there.
If the paed doesn't suggest something new when we see him, I think I might change paeds.